(Hi) Oshi no ko

[Guardian Enzo]

I’m normally pretty skeptical of product tie-ins with anime, but this one I can get behind.

https://twitter.com/oshinoko_global/...2nUXxUqCADsfww

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I’m normally pretty skeptical of product tie-ins with anime, but this one I can get behind.

https://twitter.com/oshinoko_global/...2nUXxUqCADsfww

Now I just imagine Kana in a forced marketing deal .

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Now I just imagine Kana in a forced marketing deal .

I respect them having fun with that idea . I'm sure Kana herself would feel a bit conflicted if she could be aware of this sort of marketing at play.

[Frontier]

Yuki may not be an actress in the traditional sense, but she has amazing charisma and knows how to exaggerate or play up what she's feeling to the cameras to make for a great show. It's no wonder she's become a hit with the audience and is helping carry the show, especially when she becomes the center of the shows' "love triangle" .

MEM-cho portrays herself as an airhead and says she is, but she seems very media and business savvy. Enough to know how people online act and to be able to get a 50/50 split in the profits with her agency. Not bad, even if it means she's often left footing the bill .

I love how the one thing Aqua has come to enjoy about being a teenager again is being able to eat fatty foods .

Kana is about to educate Ruby on how you really need to be careful about what you post about online, or you'll lose potential investors, and how common egosurfing is among celebrities. To be honest I'm not surprised Ruby's been looking herself up even when she's barely an idol, though it also sets up the dark parallel with Akane .

Akane really does feel like a genuinely nice, hardworking, girl...but the problem is that doesn't always stand out well or makes her distinct enough, and no matter how many notes or directions she takes, it won't necessarily get her anywhere. And she's got her agency riding her on how little she's standing out on the show and she barely has any online recognition (that at least actually cares about her) and you see all the build up for something to blow over .

And of course the one time she freaks out and tries to stand out she accidentally cuts Yuki, the "star" of the show (ironically with the same nail Yuki helped put on her to begin with). But it goes to show that, despite not wanting Akane to steal the spotlight from her, Yuki takes what happened in stride and immediately tries to comfort Yuki despite their being no cameras to play up the resolution of their drama. Social media, on the other hand, is another story .

I guess it's not altogether unexpected that the internet would basically turn on Akane and grind her into dust with all their hate and vitriol, some of it she even hears at school. Making her out to be a slut, an unlikeable go-getter, someon who thinks they're above everybody else when she's really just a girl trying to do her best because she fell in love with her acting...and the hate only gets worse when she tries to explain herself in true online fashion. It gets bad enough that her mom gets criticized and the one seeming fan she had stops supporting her. Poor girl doesn't deserve this .

Smol Akane! Akane in pigtails! We even got some light yukata fanservice in this episode .

After everything that's happened to her and with her career and livelihood seemingly in shambles, I'm not surprised Akane would consider suicide. Her co-stars reach out to her but she can only hear all the hate and bitterness and just wants to end it. But before you forget who the actual main character is, Aqua manages to pull her back before she falls. He saved Akane's life but can he save her past that ?

[Huh...?]

I was wonder at which point they would end the episode (was it "before" Aqua rescued Akane or "after"), and it seems they went for the "after", probably because while the "before" would have garnered a get amount of hype, but it wouldn't have left a good taste.

On another note, "Idol" had reached the 100M views mark on YouTube in 36 days.
https://twitter.com/Ayase_0404/statu...88855012130817

Edit: MV for "Mephisto" by QUEEN BEE also dropped a few hours ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo83M-KOc7k

[TnAdct1]

The real life incident that inspired this episode.

[GDB]

They did that scene perfectly. Possibly even better than the manga since it actually had her starting to drop with both feet off the ground here.

<3 Akane

[ryllharu]

Originally Posted by GDB

They did that scene perfectly. Possibly even better than the manga since it actually had her starting to drop with both feet off the ground here.

Still not as emotionally gutting as the equivalent scenes in the animated film adaptation of:

Spoiler:

A Silent Voice

[Kanon]

The cyberbullies are the real shitstains of course, but the producers are also complete assholes. Contract stipulates Akane can't disclose anything that happened off-camera so she can't explain she immediately made up with Yuki. And for that matter, Yuki and the others can't do it either. It's a real rotten world.

Originally Posted by Huh...?

I was wonder at which point they would end the episode (was it "before" Aqua rescued Akane or "after"), and it seems they went for the "after", probably because while the "before" would have garnered a get amount of hype, but it wouldn't have left a good taste.

That's how the chapter ended in the manga too. As you said, making a cliffhanger out of a possible suicide would have been in poor taste especially when this is based on real life events and there was no one to save the poor girl there.

[Nachtwandler]

I am a bit confused thought, where they plan to end this season. Previously me (and a lot of people) thought it will be B-Komachi concert, but with current tempo they will have like 2 extra episodes.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by ryllharu

Still not as emotionally gutting as the equivalent scenes in the animated film adaptation of:

Spoiler:

A Silent Voice

Well, that one is hard to top for a lot of reasons. Including the fact the one doing the saving ended up plummeting instead.

[DragoonKain3]

Hmm... Akasaka really does know how to cope with online harassment, as what the characters say mirror what Asmongold (a relatively long tenured streamer) has to say with the topic. It may just be one streamer's opinion on the matter, but I think it's relevant to what he has to say as not only Asmon has weathered the Hogwarts Legacy debacle, but he is also currently in his own incident of his making just last week. But yeah, the relevant quotes from the show:

"[Reality shows] show people's true natures on screen more than I'd expected... but lying is also the best way to protect onseself."

Asmongold in one of his videos tells his viewers that 'When you take [online] criticism, it is important to take an effigacy of yourself that is who you are online.' Basically he states that because people in the internet only sees your online persona, this means that people are attacking the 'other you' that you put online, and you use this 'lie' as a shield to take the brunt of the criticism.

"Apologizing is seen as the reasonable thing to do by Japanese people, but it's the worst tactic for combating a storm of criticism online."

In another video, Asmongold tells that if you are online, the only solution to what may be a big internet scandal is to 'don't bleed.' Either double down on your stance, or just totally ignore it (or in his own actions, 'ban that person!'). The moment you show weakness in the internet is when it empowers these internet bullies even more.

And in both cases, Akane has done the worst thing possible - she took online harassment as attacks to her own personal character, and she has shown weakness in the internet. She got monkey pawed in that she did stand out in the show now, but in the worst way possible. Lucky she has Aqua to save her... (or is it really just 'luck' Aqua was nearby?)

But it begs the question... considering how well Akasaka knows about what goes with online harassment and how to deal with it, does he himself have personal experience with it? I mean, I know Akasaka has interacted online with vtubers, and I personally seen 'unicorns' complain loudly when their oshi interacts with male, but I've never heard of Akasaka being the target of such harassment. Or maybe he extrapolated such things when he himself egosurfed during the creation of IB and Kaguya? But regardless, props to him to showing it really well.

-----

So from what I thought Akasaka did well, to what I thought was almost unbelievable... how on earth did Aqua save Akane? I'm pretty sure they are in the Tokyo area, and that place is huge, so how was Aqua there in the right place in the right time? On top of that, why on earth is Aqua running around in Tokyo in the middle of a typhoon?

One probable reason why Aqua would know where Akane was in the middle of the typhoon is because she sent the message she is getting food. But clearly with the fallen trophy, Akane started from home. Which would imply, if he was looking for her in a route between her home and where she gets her food, that Aqua:

1) Knows where Akane lives, and
2) Knows which food places Akane frequents

I don't know, but that sounds suspiciously like either Aqua is a bonafide stalker, or more likely, Aqua has something really screwed up in his head. Maybe because it's my recent obsession with JCS inspired psychology interrogation videos on Youtube, and/or maybe because I just recently finished S2 of a certain series with a hero that clearly has signs of anti-social personality disorder (who acts very like Aqua in a lot of respects including part of his name starting with an 'A'), but could possibly Aqua has some sort of personality disorder as a result of his childhood trauma?

I mean, look at this way... if Aqua knew where to look for Akane during the typhoon, that must mean he must have acquired the knowledge of her home and places she frequents before her attempted suicide. Not only that, but as I talked about before, Aqua clearly knew that 'lying' is a form of self-protection, and that Akane clearly is wearing her heart on her sleeve all this time. As such, could Aqua possibly recognize early on that Akane is susceptible because she has no defenses, and so he not only didn't he give advice to Akane before hand that may have prevented this to happen, but maybe Aqua had a hand in the internet bullying in the first place? That in essence, Aqua has been targeting Akane as someone who can be easily manipulated in the future?

Maybe I'm overthinking Aqua being this manipulative, but I really can't help it as there's really A TON of simlilarities between him and this other 'A' hero of another series. This other hero is a master manipulator, who is not above using other people to do his deeds. Not only that, but he would use other people to do harm to people close to him, just so he can save that person in the nick of time to make himself look like the-knight-in-shining armor to save them, and as such gain another person to manipulate.

Which honestly scares me, as Aqua has repeteadly said he finds Kana 'cute'. The show goes to great lengths to say that Aqua is a man who doesn't really compliment often, and when he does he either does it because its his job as acting, or when he really means it. But considering the show contrasts the two in the same episode, with Aqua internally saying there wasn't anything he said that was a lie in regards to Kana last episode, that must mean Aqua has a genuine interest in Kana.

And as an osananajimi shipper, this should make me ecstactic. But if anything, it scares me because if going by real life, these type of manipulative people with personality disorders hurts most the people closest to them. And if Kana is the one who would be closest to Aqua's heart, then she is the one in the most danger. Even as a literary device where the present repeats the past mistakes, would this mean that Aqua would kill Kana in the future just like his dad presumably did with Ai?

So yeah, I'm scared shitless at this prospect, but maybe Akasaka would pull his punches like he did with Akane this episode? I can only hope, but honestly it's these
potentially dark possibilities that makes Oshi no Ko the current front runner as anime of the decade IMHO.


----

Now as for Kana, Megumi Han really killed it. Back in eps 2 I honestly thought her base personality even with Aqua would be more like Han's rendition of Benio is Twin Exorcists, but Han really gives off a voice that's more 'genki'/bubbly than 'dere'/lovestruck. I mean, Akasaka has numerous tsunderes in Kaguya, like Kaguya being more ice princess type, Iino the more 'diligent'/iinchou type, and Maki the more traditional tsundere type, but Han's rendition of this tsundere is really something else.

At times Kana gives off a strong genuine interest in Aqua's doings/whereabouts that's more common to genki characters, other times she sounds aloof especially when talking about her depressing tongue, and other times she sounds scathing thanks to her sharp tongue. Honestly, if going just by the script, I would have thought Kana would be another ice-princess tsundere, but Han really has put a different spin to this character I can't exactly pinpoint. Kana is certainly going to be a unique performance in Han's career, and I just can't wait to hear more from her.

So yeah, Takahashi impressing me in eps 1 (easily the best supporting voice acting role of the year), Ootsuka in eps 2 and 4 (psycho Aqua was terrific!), Han in 3 and 5, and Iwami in the latest eps, Oshi no Ko keeps delivering star performances. This on top of guest roles like Itou in eps 4, and Oonishi in eps 5-6 (Sumi is easily my favourite of the Love Now cast - so much so that I wanted to join in harassing Akane lol), Oshi no Ko spared no effort or money for these performances.

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

The real life incident that inspired this episode.

Ah yes, as somewhat of a J-dorama fan, I was vaguely familiar with Terrace House but didn't really watch it since I never liked reality shows like Survivor. That said, I knew about the incident as it was around the time I took a hiatus from Anime/Manga in general, and I'm actually bit disappointed in Akasaka in not 'pulling the trigger' on Akane. I mean, he kinda killed off what many thought to be the 'main character', what's one more to the body count?

[FlareKnight]

Geeze, that was bleak and heavy. Honestly things spiraled in a bad way from the start really. Honestly started on the professional side with the intensity of that company president. But things kept piling on and spiraled right out of control.

The only downside was that as the negative spiral sucked up Akane, that story sucked up the focus of the whole episode. You could have forgotten that there were other characters. Not that it's a problem for Akane. That's just the reality of every episode not being several hours . And it worked to highlight how isolated she was becoming.

Honestly I'm kind of impressed by Yui (again this feels painfully meta or something). She pretty quickly recognized that Akane was the one hurting as much if not more than she herself was and I wouldn't be surprised if she could predict where things might go. So trying to comfort Akane right away was the only things he could do there.

I'd like to think as a "former" doctor that Aqua wouldn't be able to stand seeing someone spiraling like Akane kill themselves. But...the timing is so perfect that it's incredibly suspect. Unfortunately you have to keep serious suspicion around Aqua. He can be a good person and there are things he definitely cares about. But like we saw early on he was willing to make Ruby miserable to protect her via sabotaging her efforts to become an idol. He's more than willing to hurt the people he cares about so long as he thinks it is for their own good.

Really glad the episode fit in some comedy early on. Credit to them that it also fed into the core focus of the episode. Having Kana utterly embarrass Ruby via confirming her self-searches was pretty gold. And credit to Ruby...of course she'd google her name with cute thrown in there .

[Decel]

Wow that was grim and dark. I did like the visuals, especially the ideal/reality snapshots before Akane jumped. I also like how they highlighted/exposed the issue head-first.

I hope they show how Aqua found out/followed Akane. He's a doctor by nature, so I assume that he noticed the tells Akane exhibited. Also, losing a young patient (the now Ruby) did mark him, so I assume he'll do his damnest to prevent other tragedies.

[Mad Pierrot]

Way to jump between the dance with that naked guy to the cyberbullying. Then again, this is why no artists should have twitter or any social media. They are always gonna get toxic comments. Then again, this seems a commentary on social media itself too. Is this more specific on a more direct plattform than others. Twitter is a typical random place where you can say anything behind any title and get away with it. It is also the most used one too so people are gonna check it.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

Way to jump between the dance with that naked guy to the cyberbullying. Then again, this is why no artists should have twitter or any social media. They are always gonna get toxic comments. Then again, this seems a commentary on social media itself too. Is this more specific on a more direct plattform than others. Twitter is a typical random place where you can say anything behind any title and get away with it. It is also the most used one too so people are gonna check it.

It's not about one social platform in particular. Akane spent a lot of time surfing 5ch as well which is one of the most toxic place around so she was actively looking for comments about herself, probably in a desperate attempt to find some positive ones. The problem is people and the anonymity they enjoy online.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

Way to jump between the dance with that naked guy to the cyberbullying. Then again, this is why no artists should have twitter or any social media. They are always gonna get toxic comments.

Some sites like 5ch may be completely unnecessary, but artists need Twitter and social media to promote themselves and their content.

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The cyberbullies are the real shitstains of course, but the producers are also complete assholes. Contract stipulates Akane can't disclose anything that happened off-camera so she can't explain she immediately made up with Yuki. And for that matter, Yuki and the others can't do it either. It's a real rotten world.

It doesn't matter what anyone says, people already decided that she's scum so that's all she will be to them, explaining things or apologizing will only make things worse because it doesn't matter how sincere they are NO ONE WILL BELIEVE A WORD THAT IS SAID.

How many apology videos from someone famous or well known have you seen get instantly bashed because "clearly they are not being sincere", "they clearly don't mean it", "it's just something the company made them say", "this is just a fake response to save face, I knew I didn't like them for a reason", etc?

Those stipulations exist because they know how people will react, especially the fanboys and haters alike, yes, the producers and owner of the managing company are assholes but they are giving the actress a chance and expect her to deliver, if she doesn't then they are free to be concern or mad that she isn't because it's their money that's being used to promote her and they don't want her to waste that opportunity, yes they could be nicer about it, but they have to be hard on their talent because at the end of the day it's a business and no one is running a business to fail.

[Frontier]

I only just realized this is a mini-Gamers! reunion with Kana, MEM-cho and Akane's VA's .

[SeijiSensei]

Why are they using their real names on this show? Shouldn't they all have stage names, including the models?